Tuesday 8th until Saturday 12th June 2010 @ Bristol Old Vic, Bristol

Debbie Tucker Green has one actress only in her play, Random. There are no props, curtains or anything else to disrupt the audience’s attention from this one human being on stage. She is a mother, a father, a daughter, work-mates, school mates, police and victim. With a mixture of body language, flowing poetic words and jarring looks and sounds, she morphs into the different characters. This could have been massively confusing and frustrating for the audience but it was easy to follow and utterly mesmerising.

The play begins with a normal day in an urban area. We watch the family in their routine, through the actress. Her single presence focuses all attention on the rhythmic script; getting up, off to school, off to work, sitting at home with Phil and Holly - a normal and very likeable family, the play begins humorously. Just past 2pm however and something hideous and completely random strikes.

“Random” means haphazard and arbitrary. It wasn’t their fault, they weren’t targeted and it was just by chance that it happened to them. Your child/brother/friend was stabbed. And died. Yes. But it could have been anyone. The word’s meaning, no matter how many times repeated will never have the affect of relieving the pain felt by the family of a murdered child. Random maybe indiscriminate but it still hits someone: The Random. Her child, his son, her brother.

“Death used to be for the old” – Sister. The whole ‘cast’ are propelled into shock and, surrounded by sympathisers and support workers, the sister finds herself escaping to her brother’s room. Anyone who has a brother can understand that the hovel of the brother’s room is totally out of bounds but there she sits and sits with no repercussions. It’s awful.

There’s no escaping the thoughts whirring round during and after this play. It is beautiful, tragic and unlike many plays, what happens in it could happen to you. It’s Random, and it’s a great play.

www.bristololdvic.org.uk

Helen Martin